


sincerely yours

by icepools



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Breakfast Club Fusion, F/F, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-10-21 10:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icepools/pseuds/icepools
Summary: “What’s gonna happen to us on Monday?” Dustin asked suddenly, sitting up, “I don’t know about you, but I consider you guys my friends,”“You mean will we still talk to each other? Like we are now?” El pressed. He nodded.“You want the truth?” she asked, wiping a thumb across her under eye. He nodded again. “I don’t think so.”or: six teenagers break the social boundaries of high school during saturday detention.





	sincerely yours

_ Saturday, March 24, 1984. Hawkins High School; Hawkins, Indiana. _

_ Dear Mr. Coleman, _

_ We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did _ was _ wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a musician, and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at seven o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed. _

El Hopper watched as her high school came into view. She leaned her head back against the car seat as her dad pulled up in front. 

“I cannot _ believe _ you can’t get me out of this,” she groaned. Her father sighed. “It’s _ Saturday. _I mean, it’s not like I’m some bad kid or anything. So why do I have to go?”

Her father merely nodded. He passed her a black bag that contained her lunch, and shrugged. “Skipping school to go shopping doesn’t make you a bad kid, Jane.”

El’s fingers twitched at the use of her name. She gave one last pleading look to her father, who just nodded in the direction of the school. She rolled her eyes and exited the car, bracing herself for the next nine hours of hell. 

Just down the way, behind El’s car, Dustin Henderson listened to his mother describe his day for him. 

“Dustin, listen to me,” This is code for _ look at me _in the Henderson family, so Dustin reluctantly shifted his gaze from the tree in front of him to his mother. “You’re going to go in there and study. Use the time to your advantage! I put your physics stuff in your bag,”

Dustin just sighed. “Mom, we—we don’t study, or anything, we’re just meant to sit there. Silently,” He added silently as a last minute thought, as if it will help convince his mother in any way. 

“I don’t _ care, _ Dustin. You’ll just have to find a _ way _to study.” He could tell these are the last words, so he furrowed his brow, grabbed his bag and exited the car without another word. 

As he walked into the school, he passed Lucas Sinclair’s car.

“Hey, Lucas, you know, guys mess around. _ I _messed around, for god's sake, it’s not bad,” Lucas nodded along to everything his father said, though none of it actually penetrated his brain. “You just got caught.”

“Yeah,” he replied simply, knowing that anything more could get him in even more trouble. 

“This is the last time we do this, though, you hear? I doubt any schools will give a scholarship to some delinquent kid.”

Lucas clenched his fists inside his pockets and gritted his teeth, biting back a rebuttal. His father handed him his bag, which he resisted snatching from his hands, instead taking it gently and exiting the car.

Behind him, Max Mayfield walked towards the school alone. Silently. She liked it this way. 

Mike Wheeler passed her on his bike, blasting music into his ears from the cassette in his pocket. He narrowly avoided getting hit by Will Byers’ car. 

Will stepped out of the backseat, slamming the door behind him. He moved to the front seat window, where he tried to say goodbye to his mother. Before he could say anything, the car started driving away. He hid his frown and heads into the school. 

When Lucas got inside, he went straight to the library. He said a silent prayer that he wasn’t the first one inside, and opened the door. 

There were eight tables, each seating three. He hoped that there wouldn’t be twenty-four kids, and he _ really _hoped he wouldn’t know any of them. 

He recognized El, though, and he had to admit, it was nice to have at least _one _familiar face. He walked towards her, and gestured to the seat two down from her. _ Can I sit? _

She just shrugged, which Lucas decided to take as a yes. Once seated, he looked around. There was only one other kid in the room, a boy with curly hair. Lucas couldn’t quite place where he knew him. 

Another boy walked in, Mike. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he scanned the room for a place to sit. His eyes passed over El and Lucas, and for a fleeting second he considered sitting in between them. Not if he could help it; he only half blended in with _that _crew.

He saw an empty table directly next to Dustin (Dustin! He knew Dustin!) and sat on the end seat, offering a small smile to Dustin. He returned it brightly. 

The door slammed open, and the four kids looked up and saw Will. It took everything in them not to burst out laughing at the sight of him. He was the physical embodiment of a black hole. A very _ dirty _black hole. 

Lucas and El looked at each other and chuckled a bit. Mike and Dustin didn’t catch each other’s gaze, but they could both tell the other is laughing, quietly. 

They sat in silence for about a minute, before the door opened once again. El looked up, and immediately back down. _ Max fucking Mayfield. _

Lucas and El looked at each other, then watched as Max walked straight towards Dustin’s seat. 

She nodded in the direction of Mike. _ Move_. Dustin knew better than to argue, so he grabbed his things and moved to Mike’s table, shrugging apologetically at him. Mike just smiled. 

Max sat on the seat in the middle, and for a second Dustin wondered bitterly why he even had to move. When she took his seat and put her feet up on it, his question was answered. 

Five minutes passed of the kids sitting in silence. When their principal, Mr. Coleman entered, they knew that it was just the six of them. 

Mr. Coleman looked over all of them and smiled. El didn’t like his smile—it was sour and unhappy. “I want to applaud all of you for being _ on time_,”

She didn’t like how he said _ on time, _either. It made her shift in her seat uncomfortably. 

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Coleman?” she said timidly. He just looked at her, which she took as an invitation to continue. “I think there’s been some sort of mistake. I mean, I _ do _ have detention, but I definitely don’t belong _ here_,” 

After saying this, she looked at Lucas and mouthed _ no offence_, to which he shrugged. 

She looked back at Mr. Coleman, who blinked at her, then looked at his watch. “The time is currently 7:06 a.m.” Dustin quickly checked his own watch, adjusting it so they matched. 

“You now have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about what you’ve done and why you’re here,” 

As Mr. Coleman spoke, Max gathered some saliva and mucus in her mouth, spit it up into the air, and caught it in her mouth as it fell. El gasped and quickly turned away from her. 

“There will be _ no talking_,” Mr. Coleman looked at El as he said this, and her shoulders tightened. “No moving from these seats,” Dustin, who was shifting from his seat on the far left to the middle seat—so he could be closer to Mike—stopped short, and moved back to his original spot. “And _ no _ sleeping,” Mr. Coleman shot a glare towards Max, and took the chair from under her feet. They hit the ground with a muffled _ thud. _She just narrowed her eyes at him. 

He started to put lined paper in front of everyone, and they all looked at him expectantly. “I want to try something a little different today,” he paused when he got to Will, looking him over, then slowly placed the sheet of paper in front of him. 

“You’re going to write me an essay. About who you think you are.”

“No less than a thousand words,” he seemed to catch something he said, so he clarified by saying, “A thousand _ different _ words. When I say essay, I mean _ essay_.”

“My office is right outside that door. Any funny business and you’re out of here.” Lucas assumed this was a general statement to all of them, but Mr. Coleman seemed to be looking at Max while he spoke. 

“Bullshit.” he heard a bitter voice say behind him. He turned around and saw Max, face sour and nose upturned. 

“_What was that? _”

Max just looked at Mr. Coleman, eyes narrow. He sighed. “Fine. We can talk about it _ next Saturday_,” Lucas saw her flinch, if only a little. 

“Don’t mess with the bull, young lady, you’ll get the horns.” Mr. Coleman said, pointing a stubby finger at her. She glared at him for another second before he walked out of the library and into his office. 

“That man,” Max said, kicking her feet up onto the table, “is a brownie hound.”

Dustin decided not to ask what a brownie hound was, and instead hunched himself over his paper and thought over Coleman’s prompt. 

_ Who you think you are. _

Dustin didn’t really know what that meant. How poetic was he supposed to be? He could try and be funny and say _ I am a boy in my senior year of high school. I have a mother and cat. _but he didn’t have the balls to do that. Maybe Max would, if she even did the essay. 

He was torn away from his thoughts by a snapping sound behind him. He looked up from his paper to see the other four people around him staring at the boy in the very back row. 

Dustin didn’t actually know his name, but he _ did _ know that he was biting his thumb nail _ very _loudly. The sound echoed throughout the library. 

He heard Max’s voice next to him, just as snarky as every other time she’d spoken. “If you keep eating your nails you won’t be hungry for lunch,”

The boy just blinked at her, continuing to chew on his nail.

“I’ve seen you before.” Max spoke again, and the boy shot her a look and kept biting his nail, but quieter. 

Dustin leaned over to his left and whispered in Mike’s ear. “Do you, uh, know who that is? Like his name?”

Mike pondered his question for a minute. “Honestly—I don’t know. I’ve literally never seen him before,”

Dustin stared at him. “Thanks.” he said flatly. Mike merely shrugged, leaving Dustin to his thoughts. 

Mike heard him saying things out loud, something about a walrus (_walrus?_) but was too distracted by the overwhelming heat in the library to even register Dustin’s words. 

He moved to take off his jacket, but heard a very similar shuffling sound across the aisle. Looking to his right, he saw Max taking off her jacket too. Well, now he couldn’t take it off. He would look stupid. But, _ fuck_, his jacket was halfway down his arms now. Max stared at him for a second, before he awkwardly smiled and blew hot air onto his hands. He hoped it looked natural. 

Judging by the way Max eyed him, he knew it definitely didn’t. 

After a second, Max broke off their eye contact, and Mike _ finally _took off his jacket, very quietly. 

Lucas, who had also taken off his letterman jacket, tapped a finger on his paper quietly. What the fuck did _ who you think you are _mean?

Probably exactly what it sounded like, actually. Lucas sighed and looked around, taking in the massive library around him. His gaze soon fell to the small boy in the back row of tables, who had abandoned his thumb nail and was just staring at a spot of one of the shelves. 

_ Weirdo_, he thought, turning away from the back and looking straight ahead. 

Next to him, El stared at her paper blankly, absentmindedly taking off her jacket. She guessed she was stuck in the library with these..._ people_. At least she knew Lucas; he was like her. 

Behind her, she heard a soft humming, followed by a slightly louder singing. Maybe if she didn’t look, it wouldn’t be real. But Lucas had already beaten her to it, turning around almost as soon as she singing started. Reluctantly, she followed. 

Max was playing an air guitar solo, and singing along to it. _ Loudly_. El opened her mouth to ask her to stop, but again Lucas beat her. 

“Could you, uh, I don’t know, _ not _?”

El shot Lucas a look. _ Thanks_. He shrugged. 

Max looked hurt, holding a hand to her heart, as if wounded. “Ouch. Am I annoying you and your _ girlfriend_, sporto?” Her words were teasing, but her face stayed stone cold. 

Lucas glared at her. “We’re not _ dating. _”

Max gasped. She stood up from her chair and went to hop up on the ledge next to El and Lucas’ table. 

“Really? You should. Perfect match, you know. Both very…” she paused, racking her brain for a good word, “…_ preppy. _Clubs and shit,”

When El and Lucas looked at her silently, she continued. “Let me just say you’re both very involved. Bet you could meet up during student council meetings and—“

“Shut up.” El spoke up, knowing exactly where Max’s sentence was going. She didn’t want to hear it, not today. 

Max held her hand to her heart again, acting as if she were just stabbed.

“Hey, would you just stop talking? There’s five other people in here trying to write an essay,” Lucas huffed, taking a pencil from his bag. 

“Oh! Look at you, sporto, you can count! See, I _ knew _you were smart. What with being a—“ she laughed, “—wrestler.”

Lucas sneered at her. “You can’t judge, Mayfield. You don’t even _ count_,”

Max furrowed her brows; confused. She didn’t let it show in her smirk. 

“You might as well not even exist at this school, you know? If you didn’t show up tomorrow—if you _ disappeared _, I don’t think anyone would even notice.”

Max swallowed hard. She hesitated for a moment before plastering on a snarky smile. “Well then, maybe I’ll just run out and join the _ wrestling _team. Student council, maybe,” she said, over El and Lucas’ chuckles. 

“No, no, they wouldn’t want you,”

“Ouch.”

El narrowed her eyes. “You know what I think?”

“El—“ Lucas whispered, reaching to put a hand on her shoulder. 

“No, sporto, I think I wanna hear what…” Max moved her gaze from Lucas back to El. “…_El _ has to say about me. I mean, we _ have _known each other for ten minutes.”

El huffed. She couldn't back down, not after that comment.

“I think you’re afraid. Of being actually liked. Of losing this whole cool-girl attitude,” she paused, “Or not being liked. You’re afraid they won’t take you. So you just bash everything that scares you.”

“That’s an…interesting…take. Now, tell me, Hopper, what caused you too—“

Max cut herself off, looking towards the door. She saw Coleman walking away from the library, and, once his footsteps were far enough away, she rushed to the door.

“Hey, what are you doing?” El called after her. She just put a finger to her lips, smirking, and continued messing with the door’s hinge. El decided to ignore the burning sensation on her cheeks and ears. 

Once she seemed satisfied, Max let go of the door, allowing it to close with a slam. 

“What did you do?” Mike asked her in a concerned tone. 

“Nothin’. Just…” She held up a small screw and shoved it into her jacket pocket, “fixing a loose screw.”

El bit her lip to hide the tiny smirk growing on her face. 

The sounds were muffled by the closed door, but Max still heard Coleman’s footsteps. She _ definitely _heard his shouting.

“Who the _ hell _closed this door?”

She rushed back to her seat just as the door slammed open and Coleman stormed in. 

“Well?” he asked, face red with anger. His gaze went straight to Max.

“…I think a screw fell out,” she said, shifting in her seat. _ Into my pocket_.

“It just, uh, just closed, sir.” Lucas piped up, albeit nervously. Max was shocked to see him covering for her. She looked down, the corners of her mouth upturned. 

“_Who? _”

From behind her, Will (was it Will?) squeaked loudly and put his head on the table. His coat’s hood fell over his head, swallowing him whole. 

“He doesn’t talk, sir.” Mike explained. In response to this, Will squeaked more. 

Coleman’s jaw clenched. “Really, sir, no one touched it,” El said, attempting to smile. 

This only seemed to make him angrier. He huffed, and made his way towards the door. Everyone, Will included, turned their heads and moved their bodies so they could see. 

Coleman grabbed a chair from the librarian’s desk and opened the door, shoving the chair in the gap to keep it still. He let go to admire his work, and the door slammed in his face. 

A few chuckles and snorts echoed throughout the library. The kids immediately shut up when Coleman came back inside, looking redder than before. 

Once again, he huffed. He grumbled something, then pointed at Lucas. “You! Sinclair, come on, up here, let’s go,” He started clapping, trying to rally Lucas to his feet. Lucas knew better than to disobey him, especially because he was literally sat in detention, so he stood and walked towards Mr. Coleman. 

“What?! Sir, why does Lucas get to get up? If he gets up, we all get up! It’ll be anarchy!” Max shouted. El shot her an annoyed look, and she just grinned. 

The kids watched as Lucas and Coleman moved a magazine stand in front of the door. El, who was still glancing at Max every couple seconds, saw a glimmer of a smirk appear on her face. 

“Sir, I applaud your problem solving skills, really, I do,” she paused, bit her lip, perhaps to contain her smile, then continued, “But what if there’s a _ fire_?”

El looked down with a smile. 

“I think it’s safe to assume you don’t want to put us six, innocent children in danger?”

Coleman’s demeanor changed instantly. He ushered Lucas away from the door. “I expected more from a varsity letterman.”

Lucas winced, clear enough for everyone to see. 

Coleman now turned his attention to Max again. “I know you, Mayfield. I hope you don’t expect to be off the hook. The next screw that falls out will be _ you_.”

Max’s nose upturned. “Eat my shorts,” she mumbled. 

“_What? _”

Max looked up at him, now, eyes narrow. Her jaw was squared. “_Eat. My. Shorts._”

“That’s another Saturday, missy,”

Max rolled her eyes. “I’m crushed.”

Coleman pointed his stubby little finger at her again. “That’s one more,”

Max sat up straight. “Well, damn, Coleman, I think I’m free next Saturday, but after that I’ll have to check my calendar,”

El wanted to scream at her. Shut her mouth. What the hell was she _ doing_?

“Better free it up then, Maxine. Because it’s gonna be _ full_. Instead of getting arrested, you can come here. You finished?”

Max hesitated. “No.”

“I’m doing society a favour!”

“..._so_?”

“That’s another! I’ll have you until the day you _ die _if you keep this up. You want one more?”

“Yes,”

El had finally had enough. She twisted her body around and, in a high pitched voice, shouted, “Stop it!”

Max looked at her. El swallowed and mouthed _ quit it. _They held each other’s gaze. 

“Are you done?” Coleman caught Max’s attention again. 

“Nowhere near it, sir.”

“Great! Another!”

“I don’t give a _ shit_,”

“_Another_.”

Max didn’t let it show, but El could tell. She was _ freaked_. 

“You done?” Coleman’s voice had a proud tone that made El a bit uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat, earning a glance from Lucas. She shook her head. He nodded.

“How many’s that?” Max’s smirk had reappeared on her face, but it couldn’t hide the way her fingers shook on the table and the way her leg jerked up and down rapidly. 

“Seven. Including when you said bull—uh, when you cursed earlier this morning,” Dustin spoke up. Coleman just stared at him. 

“Eight,” he said finally. Dustin’s face fell. 

“Sir, I don’t mean to be rude but it’s seven—“

“_ Eight. _ That’s two months, Mayfield. Two months. You’re _ mine_.” Coleman held up two fingers. Max scrunched up her face uncomfortably. 

“Fine by me.”

“There you go. Tough girl attitude,” Coleman began exiting the room, walking backwards. “You oughta spend a little less time trying to keep this up. And a little _ more _time trying to actually do something with your life.”

“I’m right outside this door. If I have to come in here one more time, I’m—“

_ Cracking skulls_, Max mouthed along with Coleman’s words. Thankfully for her, and her schedule for the next two months, he didn’t notice.

As he exited the library, the other five kids attempted to shake off the strange feeling that had come over them from Max and Coleman’s fight. The door slammed shut, and as it did, Max shouted,

“_Fuck you! _”

* * *

About an hour had passed since Max and Coleman’s detention stand-off, and the kids were _ tired_. Eight a.m. on a Saturday. Normally, they would still be asleep. (Max seemed used to it, though, she was the most awake out of the six. _ Still fucking tired_.)

Max pulled a match and a cigarette out of her bag, then propped her feet up on the table. She held the cigarette in her mouth loosely as she lit the match on her boot, then lit the boot on fire. She pulled her foot to the cigarette and lit it, snuffing out the flame on her boot with her gloved hand. 

In front of her, El leaned her head on the palm of her hand. She stared at a spot on the wall, then laughed at something that was buried deep in her mind. She blinked slowly. 

Dustin, just down the way, was colouring in a line on his sheet of paper; the one he was supposed to be writing a thousand-word essay on. The only writing on the page that actually related to an essay was the date. 

Lucas was pulling on the string inside his hood. He pulled it left, then right, then left again, continuing the process to some sort of rhythm. 

In the very back, Will found a thin string that had fallen off of his coat. He saw it and grinned widely, holding in delicately in his hands. He bit his bottom lip in concentration, wrapping the string around his finger tightly. He poked it as it started to turn blue. 

Mike tapped the table with his fingers, drumming a tune that he had heard on the radio on his way to the school. He didn’t know any of the words, or the name, or the artist, nor did he have access to it; he didn’t have the tape it came from. He had to base all of his knowledge off of the eight bars of music he remembered. 

Ten minutes later, the group was just as bored, and even more tired. Will had started sketching something on a scrap of paper; a winter scene in the park. He wasn’t sure what to do about illustrating _ snow_, though. It was white. How could you _ draw _ white? He shook his head frustration. When a few bits of dandruff fell from his hair, he grinned and shook it more. The paper was covered in tiny flakes of dandruff. He bit his lip to conceal his massive smile. 

Lucas crumpled up a piece of paper (the essay one? He wasn’t even sure anymore) and threw it into the recycling bin. It landed with ease. He silently cheered himself on, acting as if he was the audience at one of his games. 

Dustin was resting his head on the desk, eyes drooping slightly. He kept trying to fight the sleep, but eventually it overtook him. Mike, next to him, looked at him and furrowed his brows. That looked nice. _ Very _nice. Coleman hadn’t come to check on them in a while, so he figured it was fine if he took a small nap. He mirrored Dustin’s actions, leaning his head on the table and closing his eyes. 

Soon enough, El followed. Her head flopped onto her arm as she fell asleep. Eventually, all six kids were fast asleep on their desks. 

Thirty minutes later, when the clock struck nine, Coleman walked into the library, sighing in frustration when he saw the sleeping students. 

“Wake up!” he said sharply. They didn’t move. 

“Does anyone need to use the bathroom?” he asked finally. 

Six hands shot up immediately. 

* * *

Max had perched herself on the railing, Lucas sat on the table next to her. Dustin and Mike browsed the books behind her. She was holding a book, some type of poetry, and tearing out the pages. 

“You’ll have to pay for that, you know,” Mike informed her. She shrugged. 

“I mean, it’s not that bad. Who’s gonna read this,” She looked at the cover, searching for the author’s name. “_ Mo-Lay _shit anyway?”

El grinned. “_Molière_.” she corrected. Max looked up at her through her eyelashes, and she bit her lip. 

“Oh, hey, El, are you going to Kathy’s party next Friday?” Lucas asked her. She pondered the question, before shrugging. 

“I don’t know yet. Who’s going?”

“I am,” Mike piped up from the music history shelf. She smiled at him. “I think Josie Carter’s going too.”

She hummed. “I’ll ask my parents, I guess,”

This got Max’s attention. She tapped her fingers on the _ Molière _book, then spoke up. 

“Who do you like more?”

“What?” El turned to her, nose upturned. 

“Who do you like better?” Max repeated. “Mom or dad, ones gotta go. Who are you keeping around?”

El stared at her, eyes narrow. What the hell kind of a question was _ that_? “...I don’t know. I don’t really like either of them,”

Max raised her eyebrows, prompting her to explain. She shrugged. “I…They don’t really love each other, my parents. I don’t think so, anyway. All they do is fight; I don’t remember a time when they didn’t.”

Max looked down, trying to hide her guilt. Maybe this was a step too far? El seemed fine, but it wasn’t the most fun topic. 

“I don’t think they love me, either. They, uh, you know, use me to get back at each other.”

“_Ha! _”

The five kids in the front of the library quickly turned towards Will, who stared back at them for a second before looking downwards. El glared at him, disgusted. Disgust was the overall consensus in the group; excluding Lucas. He kept his eyes on Will, and couldn’t help but smirk a little. 

“Lucas?”

“What?” he asked, tearing his gaze away from Will and bringing his attention to the rest of the group. 

“I asked if you get along with your parents,” Mike had moved himself so he was sat next to Max. Dustin was still stood by the books, flipping through one about quantum physics. 

Lucas furrowed his brows. “That’s a trick question,”

Mike blinked at him. 

“Well, if I say yes I’m an idiot,”

Max tossed the now destroyed book onto the ground, and moved to stand in front of Lucas. 

“You’re an idiot either way. If you say yes, well, then you’re a liar too.”

El turned away to hide her smile. It went unnoticed by everyone, except Will. He eyed her suspiciously, looking away when she looked at him. 

Max and Lucas glared at each other, before Dustin spoke up, apparently trying to cut the tension. 

“I, uh, don’t get along with my parents either. They don’t care about me,”

“Hey, stay out of it, brainy,” Max shot him a look, and he cowered into himself. 

“Um, really, they don’t—“

“Listen, bucko, you’re a parents wet dream. You don’t get to talk.”

“Why do you do that?” Mike said, after a pause. 

“Do _ what_?”

“_T__hat_,” Mike pointed to Dustin, “Be rude to people like that. Insult them and shit,”

“I’m being _ honest_. Big difference there.”

Max walked away after that, leaving Mike dumbfounded behind her.

Twenty minutes and a small nap later, the door opened. All the kids rushed back to their original seats, save for Max, who headed over leisurely. 

They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Mr. Clarke, the janitor, walk in.

“Hey, Dustin! Didn’t expect to see you here…” he eyed Dustin for a second, causing him to shift slightly. After a moment, Mr. Clarke smiled at him; Dustin returned it gratefully. 

“Woah, brainy! I didn’t know your _ dad _worked here.” Max teased. 

Dustin and Mr. Clarke stayed silent. 

After a short pause, Max’s voice broke the silence again. “Say, Mr. Clarke, how does one…become a janitor?”

This caught Mr. Clarke’s attention; he laughed. “You wanna be a janitor?”

“No, not _ me_, but sporto here,” she gestured to Lucas, who rolled his eyes, “has been really interested in the field lately.”

Mr. Clarke blinked at her. Then, he spoke. “You know something? All of you kids, and I _ know _you do it, you make fun of me. I get it! Janitor, cleans up people’s messes, what a loser!”

El and Lucas snickered quietly. Their friends _ definitely _did that when Mr. Clarke wasn’t around. Sometimes when he was, too.

“Let me tell you this, though,”

They stopped laughing and looked at him. 

“I,” he put his finger to his chest, “am the eyes and ears of this school. I hear everything, I see everything,” he looked at El, “I _ know _everything.”

She looked down, avoiding his gaze. 

He stayed quiet after that, quickly finishing up his job. As he pushed his large custodial cart out, he pointed to the clock on the wall; the one that had captivated the kid’s attention multiple times that day. 

“That clock’s twenty minutes fast,” he said, before opening the door and wheeling himself out. El and Lucas, and Dustin and Mike, exchanged looks. Max just smirked. 

* * *

The time was 11:30; as far as the kids knew. After Mr. Clarke told them the large wall clock was twenty minutes fast, they didn’t trust any clocks. Not that one, not Coleman’s, not their own watches. 

They all sat lazily in their seats, fiddling with things and having short conversations with each other. Other than that, it was silent and boring. 

Max was apparently sick of the silence, because she started whistling. It was nothing at first, just a couple notes strung together, but it soon turned into _ Colonel Bogey March_. 

When Dustin recognized the tune, he grinned, and started whistling along. Mike soon joined him. Not long after, El and Lucas started whistling along, too. 

The five of them whistled a couple bars, and finally Will joined in, too. He was an octave too high and off-beat. 

The whistling died down when the door opened. Coleman came into view, and Max’s whistles morphed into _ Beethoven’s Fifth. _He glared at her until, after nearly a minute, she stopped. 

“It’s 11:30,” he said, ignoring Max’s _ yeah, no shit _ under her breath, “You now have thirty minutes to eat your lunches.”

“_Thirty _minutes? But, sir, we normally get an hour, how are we—“ El complained. 

“_Thirty. Minutes. _” Coleman stared at her. She cowered into her seat, looking downwards and avoiding his eyes. 

“Are we, uh, eating in the cafeteria?” Mike asked after a moment. He sounded nervous, like he was scared of Coleman. (And, quite frankly, he _ was_.)

Coleman looked at him like he was insane. “God, no, Wheeler, who do you think I am? I _ know _ you’ll all,” Despite the word _ all _ , he only looked at Max. She sneered at him. “just run off and leave me to explain to your _ parents _where you’ve all gone. You’ll eat in here.”

Mike just sighed, defeated. 

“Um, yeah, excuse me, sir? Yeah, hi, I have a question,” Max piped up. 

“_What_?” Coleman sounded exhausted. Who could blame him, really, Max Mayfield was a handful. 

“Will _ milk _be made available to us?”

“We’re extremely thirsty, sir,” Mike exclaimed, apparently having recovered from his exchange with their principal. 

“I have a _ super _low tolerance to dehydration,” El said. Coleman’s nose upturned. 

“I’ve seen her dehydrated, sir, it’s disgusting.”

El was caught off guard by this comment. She turned to him, mouth agape, and mouthed, _ Dude, what the fuck? _

He merely shrugged. 

Coleman considered their request for milk, and then snapped in the direction of Lucas. “You,” he said, looked around the room, then snapped again and pointed to Will, “And you,”

Will blinked a couple times, then frowned. “Faculty office. Grab some refreshments for your detention mates,”

Lucas turned to see who he was going with, and, upon seeing Will standing up, nearly groaned out loud. El patted his arm as he rose from his seat. 

Together, Will and Lucas silently exited the library and headed to the faculty lounge. 

As they walked through the halls, Lucas took in the sight of Will. He was messy, and kind of dirty and gross, but in an endearing way?

_ No, he’s just weird. _Lucas told himself. He convinced himself that if he said it enough, it’d be true. 

“So…” he began. Will, behind him, looked at the back of his head. 

“Um, what’s your poison?”

Will blinked at him, brows furrowed. Lucas sighed. 

“What do you drink? _ Alcohol _?”

He was only met with silence once again. 

“_Okay. _ Forget I asked.” he mumbled. Will looked down and bit his lip hard. 

“…Vodka,”

Lucas stopped walking and turned towards him.

“_Vodka_?” 

“Vodka.” Will repeated, shrugging.

Lucas nodded. _ Okay… _

“When, uh, when do you drink vodka?” he asked. This wasn’t really where he thought _ this _conversation would go. 

“_Whenever_,” Will replied, throwing his hands up in the air. Lucas nodded again.

“A lot?”

“_Tons_.” Will’s neutral expression turned into a tiny smirk. (And yeah, okay, it was kind of cute, but, like, _ gross_, right?)

Lucas nodded _ again _ and looked downwards.

They walked in silence for a couple minutes, both smiling at their feet. Lucas looked back again and decided to voice something that had been bugging him all morning.

“So, um, why are you here?”

Will looked at him, smile dropping as soon as he looked up. “Why are _ you _here?”

“I asked first,”

“I asked second,”

Lucas sighed and stopped again, leaning his body weight against the wall.

“Um...everyone, you know, thinks I’m a winner. And sometimes _ winners_…” he trailed off, avoiding Will’s gaze, “sometimes winners fuck up.” he finished, as if that made any sense to Will.

“Okay,” he said after a minute. Lucas exhaled in relief. “Now why are you _ really _here?”

_ Shit. _

Lucas didn’t answer, and instead continued walking to the faculty lounge. Will frowned and sighed, following a few feet behind.

_ You _ definitely _ went too far this time, Byers. _

* * *

Everyone returned to their normal spots as Lucas and Will returned. Will shuffled to his seat in the back immediately, not looking up from his feet in order to avoid looking at Lucas. 

After he asked why he was _ actually _in detention, it was awkward. They didn’t say anything else; just took six cans of coke and silently left. So now they were back to not talking to each other. 

_ Good_, they said to themselves, convinced that if they said it then it was true. 

Lucas put the cans on his and El’s table, and Max scooted over to grab one. She took one for herself, then took another and tossed it over shoulder for Will. He caught it, and didn’t look up. 

El pulled her lunch out of her bag; a small black box. Max watched her as she took off the lid, revealing about half a dozen weird looking circles. 

“_What _is that?”

She turned to her and laughed. “Sushi,”

Max looked at El, then the sushi, then back at El. “_Sushi_?”

El laughed again. “Yeah, it’s, um, raw fish, rice and seaweed,” she said, taking out a small container of soy sauce (_soy sauce_?) and pouring it into a small dish. 

“…Gross.”

She shrugged. They heard shuffling and crinkling from Lucas’ seat, and both turned to look at him. 

He had a huge (at least a foot tall) paper bag on the desk, and was reaching into it. He pulled out a sandwich wrapped in plastic, and then another, and another, and another. The girls stared at him taking out his food until he had five sandwiches, two bananas, and four other snacks in front of him. 

“Jesus,” Max whispered. El and Lucas both made the move to say something, but they stopped when they heard a crunching sound coming from the back of the library. 

Will had a sandwich in front of him, open faced. There wasn’t any meat or cheese on it, but when Mike looked up he saw a slice of ham that stuck to the large statue in the centre of the library. He guessed that Will had thrown it into the air. (Which, um, _ gross_?)

Will took two large tubes and opened them. A white powder came spilling out of them and he poured it onto his sandwich. What the hell was it? The kids didn’t know; nor did they want to find out.

He then opened a bag of caramel popcorn (which was probably where the crunching noise came from) and dumped it onto the sandwich. He closed it, and the group watched as he bit into it, sending that same crunching noise echoing throughout the library.

He looked at them all, staring at him, and just shrugged, cracking open his coke and taking a sip.

El gagged.

“Right, well,” Max stood up, and El watched her walk over to Mike and Dustin’s table and sit between them.

  
“So, Michael,” Mike cringed; Max ignored it. “What do we have today?”

He blinked at her. She pursed her lips tightly and reached into his lunch bag; a much smaller version of Lucas’ paper bag.

“Sandwich...ooh, chips...apple...is this pudding?” She emptied Mike’s lunch bag entirely, then leaned back in her chair to survey the contents.

“Well, Wheeler, this is a very lovely lunch.” she told him, nodding as she grabbed his apple. He didn’t bother to protest.

“And what did you have, brainy?” she asked, turning to Dustin. 

She looked at his lunch and scoffed. “Very healthy. Your mom pack it for you?”

Dustin shook his head. 

“Oh, your dad, then?”

Dustin didn’t shake his head; he couldn’t. Max was right. “It’s cause I woke up late.” he told her. She shrugged and looked him up and down. 

“Do you mind if I do something?” He furrowed his brows. “Just a little performance piece. Won’t take long.” she grinned, then stood up in the middle of the aisle. 

“_This _ is what _ I _ imagine life at the Henderson house is like. Act one, scene one,”

Max cupped her hand around her mouth. “Hey, son! How’s your day?”

She put two fingers on the sides of her face, where a pair of dimples might be. “Great, dad!” she said, voice going up an octave. 

Lucas, El and Mike chuckled a little. Dustin’s mouth curled into a small smile, but it faded when Max continued. 

“Son! How’d you like to go _ camping _ this weekend? Maybe _ fishing_, too!” Her hand made its way back to her mouth, then back to her cheeks, “Oh, yes, dad! But I’ve got homework,” 

Dustin shifted a little in his seat. “That’s alright, son, you can do it in the tent! Gee, dad!”

Lucas and Mike’s smiles fell when they saw how uncomfortable Dustin was. “Hey, Mayfield—“ Lucas started, but Max wasn’t done. 

“Gosh, isn’t our son just _ swell _ ? Yes, dear, _ life _is swell!” Max has now taken on the role of Dustin’s mother, too. She kissed the air, then switched the side she was on and kissed the air there, too. She shot a look to Dustin as she raised her fist and punched the space in front of her. 

Dustin looked down. His heart was racing. He swallowed and gave a pleading look to Mike, who returned it to Lucas. 

“Okay, well, let’s see yours, then,” he said. 

“You want a day at the Mayfield house?” Lucas nodded. “Okay, well, act one, scene two.”

Max brought her voice down a couple octaves, pointed at the space next to her, and started her impression. “Stupid, worthless, no-good, freedloadin’ goddamn piece of shit, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, _ jerk_,”

It was painfully obvious this was her impression of her father. Everyone looked away, guilty that they had even brought it up. 

She lowered her hand, and returned her voice to its normal pitch. “You forgot lazy, disrespectful, and ugly,”

She turned around and slapped the space in front of her. “Shut up, bitch!” Her voice went down again, “Go and make me a sandwich,”

“What about you, dad?” she said softly.

“Fuck you,”

“No, dad, what about you?” 

“_Fuck _you!”

“_No, dad, what about_ _you_?” Shouting.

“_Fuck you_!” she practically screamed, punching the air in front of her. She knocked her head back afterwards. 

El looked away, squeezing her eyes shut. Lucas stared at Max, eyes blown wide and mouth agape. Dustin, with a shaking voice, broke the uncomfortable silence. 

“Is that—like, for real?” he asked quietly. 

“It can’t be,” Mike said suddenly. His face was hard, but his voice quivered slightly. “It’s all a part of your act…right?”

Max swallowed. The fear was evident in her eyes, but her face was stone cold. “You don’t believe me? Maybe you’ll believe _ this_,” 

She walked up to Mike and rolled up her sleeve. A small round burn scar sat on the inside of her elbow. “You see that?” Mike nodded nervously. “That’s, oh, what, about the size of a cigar?”

El and Lucas looked at each other. _ Holy shit. _

“_This _is what happens in the Mayfield house when you scratch the car.”

“Jesus…” El whispered. Max looked at her, apparently having heard her. She tried to give her a soft look, one that said _ I’m sorry_. It didn’t come across.

Max mumbled something about the rest of the group not wanting to see her right now, then stormed off, cleared books and papers off of a table under the balcony, and climbed up. 

As she sat down and leaned her chin on the railing, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately not to cry. 

Why though? She was facing away from the group, they couldn’t see her. 

Her stomach sank as she realized why. 

_ Fuck you, Hopper. _

* * *

“Do you know when he’ll be back?”

Max turned to El, brows furrowed. “What?”

With Coleman off in the faculty lounge making himself a fresh coffee (after his first one spilled all over his desk) the kids had snuck out of the library to go to Max’s locker. None of them knew why. 

“_Coleman_. Do you know when he’ll be back?” El repeated.

“No,” Max sighed.

“So how do you know we won’t get caught?”

Max just smirked. “I don’t,” Her smirk widened into a grin as she watched El’s face morph from confused to terrified. “Being bad feels pretty good, huh?”

El narrowed her eyes at her. Max shrugged and walked a little faster away. El speedwalked to keep up with her. 

Behind them, Mike, Dustin and Lucas were walking in a line. 

“I don’t—I don’t get it. Why are we going to Max’s locker?” Dustin asked. Every couple seconds, he had to jog to keep up with the two boys. (One was an athlete that walked _ very _fast, the other a six foot two boy with extremely long legs.)

“Beats me,” Mike sighed. 

“I just…why do we _ all _have to go? You know?”

“Yep,”

“And, oh god, what if we—“

“If you ask us one more question, I’ll fucking deck you.” Lucas shot a glare towards Dustin. He shut his mouth immediately. 

They finally got to Max’s locker, and she opened it quickly; it didn’t look like she had actually _ locked _her lock.

“Jesus christ,” Mike whispered upon seeing the pigsty that was Max’s locker. It was full of papers, garbage, old food and a couple cigarettes. It smelled really, _ really _bad, too. 

Max shrugged at him, pulling out a large paper bag. Inside that was another paper bag. Inside _ that _was a small green package. The kids exchanged surprised glances as Max shoved it under her jacket and closed her locker.

El followed her once she walked away, ignoring Dustin’s “Did you know about this?”

He tried again with Lucas (“Did _ you _ know about this?” He was met with silence) and _ again _ with Mike (“Dude, please tell me _ you _knew about this,” Mike just shrugged) but got nothing. 

After Mike and Lucas joined El and Max, Dustin and Will were left alone. Will’s mouth was hanging open in shock. 

“Did _ you _know about this?” Dustin asked him. Will closed his mouth and shook his head. “Unbelievable.” 

Dustin walked away to join the others. Once he was alone, Will went up to Max’s locker and grabbed the open lock, shoving it into his bag.

The kids walked the halls cautiously, praying that Coleman was still in the faculty office. After turning a corner and seeing him walking down the halls, they knew they were _ fucked_.

They quickly turned around and ran in the other direction. Will trailed behind slowly.

It quickly turned into a sort of chase, except Coleman didn’t know it was happening. They ran this way and that, avoiding him at every turn. They had a couple near sightings, but every time they managed to run away before Coleman looked behind him.

Finally, they reached a fork in the halls.

“Here, come on, this way,” Max said, pointing to the right, “This ways the library,”

“No, it’s this way,” Mike nodded towards the other direction, “Through the music hall,”

“What if we split up?” Dustin offered.

“No way! Then we’d all get caught,” El ran a hand through her hair. Max blinked at her.

“That’s assuming we go the wrong way.”

They all looked at each other, torn. On one hand, they get caught and all go to the same place. On the other, they don’t get caught and get to the library safely.

Mike, apparently tired of waiting, turned to the left and started walking. Lucas followed him quickly, Will close behind. Dustin looked at the boys walking, then at Max, sighed, and followed them down the hall.

El bit her lip and looked at Max. “We can try your way if you want,”

Max almost smiled. “No.” she said, then went to join the others. El frowned and jogged to keep up with her.

It didn’t take long for them to realize their mistake.

As they neared the music hall, a gate came into view. They ran up to it and shared a couple terrified glances.

‘Well, shit, we’re all gonna get caught now,” Lucas sighed and leaned against the gate. Max looked down.

_ Fuck. I mean, I’m already here for two months, what’s one more? _

She took the green package out from under her jacket and shoved it under Dustin’s shirt. “No,” she said, starting to walk backwards down the hall, “Just me.”

“Wh—“ El began, but Max didn’t hear her. She turned around and started loudly singing and running down the halls, touching every locker.

The remaining kids looked at each other, before running towards the library.

Max continued running and singing, and _ prayed _ that Coleman was after her. (Something she _ never _thought she’d be hoping for.) She found herself in front of the gymnasium after a couple minutes, so she yanked open the door and ran in.

She was playing basketball and narrating like in was a big game on TV when Coleman walked in.

“_Mayfield_!” His voice was sharp, but somehow proud. It sent a chill down Max’s spine.

“Hey, Russell! I’m just shooting some hoops! Thinkin’ of trying out for a scholarship! What do you think, you think I could do it?” 

“Come on, out. _ Give me that_, Mayfield, _ out_.” Coleman pointed to the basketball in her hand. She faked a pass, and he jumped. Then again and again. She put it on the ground and slowly rolled it towards her principal. As she took off her left shoe, he threw it towards her feet and she jumped over it.

He dragged her back to the library to gather her things. “Miss Funny over here,” Mr. Coleman said, nodding towards her, “decided it would be extremely amusing to visit the gymnasium and..._ shoot some hoops_,”

Lucas smiled a little at this. He wondered if she was any good. El elbowed him and his smile fell.

“I think it was very funny,” Max mumbled. Coleman scoffed.

“Yeah? You think it was funny? Funnier than the false alarm you pulled on Friday? Was that _ funny_?”

Max just shrugged, a tiny smile inching its way onto her face. 

“Jesus christ, come on, Mayfield, let’s go,” Coleman walked towards her and put his hand on her arm. She yanked it away from his grasp.

“_Don’t touch me._”

The two exited the library, and Max turned to make eye-contact with El. El frowned at her and mouthed _ I’m sorry. Good luck. _

Max smiled sadly at her, turned back towards to door and followed Mr. Coleman out of the library.

(Max didn’t realize until long after detention was over, but that was the first time she had genuinely smiled that day.)

Expression bitter (and sad), Max followed Coleman to a storage closet (_a storage closet_?) a good ways away from the library.

“_Here_?” she asked in disgust. He didn’t answer; he opened the door and practically threw her inside with a small shove. 

“That is the _ last time _you make me look bad in front of those kids, you hear? No more,”

“Oh, what, you’re afraid of being _ disliked_? No offense, Russ, but I don’t really think you need to worry about that,”

Coleman scoffed. “One day, one day, Mayfield, you’re gonna be out of here. You’ll have forgotten about this place, your buddies, they’ll have forgotten about you. You’ll be off in your own pathetic little world. And you know something?” Max averted her gaze. She didn’t know where this conversation was going, but she didn’t like it—not one bit. “When that happens I’ll be there. I’ll be there. And I’ll kick the living _ shit _out of you.”

Max flinched. She looked up at him, eyes wide. “Are you _ threatening _me?”

“And what if I am?” Coleman laughed, now, and the sound made Max want to throw up. “What’ll you do, _ tell someone_? It’s your word against mine, Mayfield. And everyone here _ knows _ you’re a lying, sneaky piece of _ shit_. So go ahead, try and tell your stupid friends I threatened you. See what happens.”

She looked down, blinking away tears. What the fuck? What the fuck was _ happening_? Why her? Why was he _ doing this_?

“Oh, now, come on, tough girl. Up, on your feet,” She looked up to see Coleman taking off his suit jacket. She stared at him in shock as he continued his speech. “Let’s see how _ tough _ you are. Come on, I’ll let you make the first hit. Right here. Hit me. Punch me in the _ goddamn face_.”

Max did not punch him in the face.

“That’s what I thought,” Coleman said before jerking forward. Max flinched. “You’re _ nothing_.”

And when Mr. Coleman exited the room and she heard the lock click, Max Mayfield allowed herself to cry.

* * *

It didn’t take long for Max to be in the ceiling crawling slowly back to the safety of the library. Within five minutes of Coleman leaving (and her small breakdown) she was climbing into the ceiling and making her way back to her friends.

As she crawled through the small space, she told herself a story.

“And the bartender looked at the time travellers and said, ‘Sorry, we don’t serve time travellers here!’” she exclaimed, almost too loudly for the “secret mission” she was on. 

She didn’t really know where she was, but she knew she had to be _ somewhere _near the library.

“Two time travellers walk into a ba—“ Max was unable to finish her story due to the ceiling gave way to her weight and she fell through the ceiling.

She sat up to all five of her friends staring wide-eyed at her.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” she grinned, dusting the ceiling remains off of her shirt. Their gaze followed her to her seat.

The door slammed open, and Max practically sprinted under El and Lucas’ table. 

“What was that noise?” Coleman shouted once he was situated in front of them. 

“What, um, what noise sir?” El said nervously. Max could see her foot tapping anxiously. 

“The crash?” 

Max sat up a little and hit her head on the table. It made a loud banging sound. Mike quickly recovered it by drumming his hands on the table; Lucas and Dustin followed suit. 

“Was it that noise, Mr. Coleman?” Lucas asked innocently. Max stifled a chuckle.

She saw El’s foot tapping again, and tentatively put her hand on her ankle. Her foot jerked back as she let out a yelp.

The other kids started coughing over it, and El joined them. 

“Um,” she coughed again, “Yeah, I think someone just dropped a book on their desk.” El forced a smile. 

Coleman glared at the five of them before walking out of the library, defeated.

“What the _ fuck_, Max?” El yelled as soon as the door closed behind their principal.

“Got lonely,” Max shrugged, crawling out from under the table. 

She walked over to Dustin and Mike’s table and stuck out her hand. Dustin blinked at her. “Don’t tell me you _ lost _it,” she groaned. 

“Oh,” he said simply, extracting her _ goods _from his pocket. 

“Oh, come on, Max, you’re not gonna blaze up in here are you?” Lucas shouted at her as she walked away. She stuck up her hand and flipped him off. 

El looked at her, then at Lucas, who was sighing exasperatedly. He shook his head, knowing exactly what she was thinking about.

She pursed her lips, then rose from her seat and went to join Max. Lucas just groaned. 

It didn’t take long for Dustin and Mike to look at each other, shrug, and join the girls in the back of the library.

Twenty minutes later, the four of them were all on their third joints.

El leaned forward, joint in hand, and allowed Max to light it. She inhaled, and immediately coughed. Next to her, Mike imitated her cough in an octave higher than his normal voice. He laughed as she and Max exchanged a couple (genuine) smiles.

Dustin blew some smoke out of his mouth, then attempted to eat the clouds of smoke that now surrounded the space around him. “Chicks cannot hold their smoke. That’s what it is,” he said, in a voice that no one in the group could even _ try _ and describe. Max laughed, grinning. (Not _ quite _genuine.)

“You know,” El began, exhaling a puff of smoke, “I am _ so _popular,” 

Mike and Max started laughing loudly. “No, I’m serious! Do you _ know _ how popular I am? Everyone _ loves _me.” she said, then started laughing right alongside the other two.

Meanwhile, Lucas and Will sat in an awkward silence. Will had _ no _intention of joining the rest of the group, so he planned on staying put.

Lucas, on the other hand, was strongly considering it. Because, jesus christ, this was _ boring_. He pursed his lips, tapped his fingers across the desk, then sighed and stood up.

Will watched him as he walked away, shocked that _ he_, Lucas Sinclair, was going to go get high with a bunch of near strangers. He could see it now:

_ As El, Max, Mike and Dustin laughed and joked, Lucas turned up the stereo in the main office of the library; said office was _ full _ of smoke. _

_ He opened the door as the music he put on started to play, _ loudly, _ and started jumping and dancing towards the second level of the library. He unzipped his hoodie and discarded it on the ground. Dustin whistled loudly as he ran up the stairs and started cartwheeling and front-flipping around the space above the main library level. _

_ Soon enough his long-sleeve t-shirt was off, too, and he was left in a tank top. He continued jumping, dancing and running his way back to the office where the stereo was. _

_ He walked in, closed the door, and screamed. _ Loudly. _ The glass of the office door smashed loudly. _

Will blinked himself back to reality.

_ Okay, well, _ that’s _ not happening. _

* * *

“Hey, Mike, do you have a middle name?”

Mike stared at Lucas. _ Huh? _

A few hours had passed since the kids had gotten high, so the effects were pretty much gone. They all still felt a little funny, but for the most part they were back to normal. 

Lucas, Dustin and Mike were sprawled across two couches, lazily engaging in surface level conversations.

“Do I...have a middle name?” he asked, brows furrowed. Did Lucas _ seriously _just ask him that?”

“Yeah,” 

Well, okay, apparently he had.

“Uh, yeah, guess,”

Lucas wasn’t able to offer a guess (let alone _ think _ of one) before Will entered the conversation.

“Your middle name is James,” he said walking closer to the three of them. “Your birthday is May seventh, you’re six foot two, you weigh one hundred and thirty four pounds, and your social security number,” He sat down next to Dustin on the couch, “is 049380913.”

The three of them stared at him in shock; speechless. “Holy shit,” Dustin mumbled.

“Are you psychic?” Lucas asked him.

“No,”

Mike shook his head to ground himself. “Well, jesus, how do you know all that?”

Will looked at him and grinned. (Lucas had to look away.) “I stole your wallet.”

“What the hell? Give it,” Mike held out his hand, and Will pulled the wallet out of his jacket pocket and gave it back to him.

“So you’re a thief too then?” he sighed exasperatedly. Will shook his head.

“You’re not a thief if there’s nothing to steal. Just a couple bucks and a beaver shot,” he shrugged.

“_What_?” Lucas and Dustin said in unison. They leaned forward in their seats, looking at each other then back at Will.

“He’s got a nudie picture in there. I saw it, it’s _filthy_,”

“Well, let’s see it then!”

Further back in the library, Max and El sat on another set of couches. Max was messing around with El’s makeup, staring at the eyelash curler in horror.

El had found a small booklet of photos in Max’s bag and started going through it. Upon further inspection she found that it was full of pictures of girls.

“Who are they?” she asked, looking up at Max softly.

Max didn’t answer. El looked at the pictures again, then bit her lip and braced herself for whatever reaction her next question would get.

“Are they, like, your girlfriends?”

Max’s finger twitched, then she nodded. El ignored the backflips that her heart was doing. “Some of them,”

El tilted her head in questioning. “I mean some of them I consider my girlfriends,” she took a tube of chapstick and slathered it across her lips, ignoring the sound of disgust that came from El’s mouth, “Others I just consider.”

“Consider what?”

Max sighed and put El’s makeup down. “Whether or not I wanna hang out with them.”

El bit her lip a little. Surely if Max had _ girlfriends _she would be okay with shit like that? “So you don’t believe in one girl-one girl?”

Max looked at her, confused. “You do?”

“Yeah,” She put the booklet down on the table in front of her, “It’s the way it should be.”

Max sighed (and ignored her heart rate going up at the fact that it seemed like El just said she liked girls) and looked back at the mess of El’s makeup on the table. “How come you have all this shit in your bag?”

“How come you have so many girlfriends?”

“I asked first,”

El hummed, then shrugged. “I don’t really throw stuff away I guess,”

Max smirked. “Neither do I.”

El exhaled and mumbled a low, “_Oh_.”

Apparently, the entire library decided it was “show off the shit in your bag” time, because that was exactly what the boys were doing.

Lucas ran a thumb over Dustin’s fake ID. “You made yourself seventy-four,” he pointed out. Dustin laughed.

“I know, I botched it,”

“What do you even need this for?”

“To vote. _ Duh_.”

Lucas just laughed, reaching onto the table to grab something from Mike’s bag.

Will, who had been silent since they looked at the nude photo, finally spoke up again. “Do you wanna see what’s in my bag?” he asked quickly.

“No.” The three other boys said in unison. Will frowned and decided to ignore it, opening his bag and dumping it’s contents onto the space between him and Dustin. They stared at the mountain of miscellaneous objects that now occupied the empty spot on the couch.

“Jesus,” Mike mumbled as Dustin picked up what looked like an old sock. “Do you always have all this shit in your bag?”

“Yes,” Will grinned, “I always have all this _ shit _in my bag.”

Dustin surveyed the object, then Will, then the bag in his hand. “Are you gonna be like, a shopping bag dude? You know, like in the alleyway with garbage, talking to walls and cats and shit?”

Will exhaled slowly. “I’ll do what I have to,” When Dustin looked at him funny, he elaborated. “My home life is...unsatisfying.”

“So you’re saying you’ll run away and sit yourself in the boring alleyways in Hawkins because your home life is _ unsatisfying_?”

Will nodded. “I don’t have to run away to Hawkins.” he said simply.

Dustin leaned over towards Lucas. “So, um, yeah, help? Will here says he wants to run away because his home life is unsatisfying,”

Lucas looked at Dustin, then at Will. “Well, yeah, everyone’s home life is unsatisfying,”

“No, see, I think his home life is _ extremely _unsatisfying. You know?”

Will tightened his fists around his jeans and stood up. This was stupid. Why did he think this was a good idea? “No, nevermind, forget it,”

He walked away towards a book display, and the three remaining boys looked at each other. Lucas sighed and stood up to join him. 

Will was leaning against the table with his arms crossed when Lucas came up to him. “Hey,” he said softly. Will didn’t reply. “You okay?” 

Again, Will didn’t reply; instead he turned his head away from Lucas to avoid his gaze. Lucas frowned. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Fine, okay,” he mumbled when Will once again remained silent. He started to walk away when Will finally said something. 

“You have problems,”

Lucas whipped around, mouth agape. “_I _have problems?”

Will nodded, swallowing hard. “You let everybody walk all over you—_ that _is a problem.”

He almost laughed. “Yeah, okay, maybe I do, but at least _ I _ didn’t dump my bag out on the couch and drag people into _ my _problems.”

Will retreated after this, backing away towards the table again. He tried to slow his breathing when Lucas returned to his side. 

“So what is it? Your parents?” Will slowly nodded. “Is it...bad?” A nod. “What...what do they do? To you, I mean?”

Lucas spoke in a way that Will didn’t recognize. Not from _ anyone_. His voice was soft, and he was gentle. It made him feel safe. 

He hesitated for a moment, looking for good intention in Lucas’ eyes. When he found it, he sighed softly.

“They ignore me.”

Will looked away, blinking back tears. Lucas raised his hand and it hovered in the air next to Will. He hummed quietly, almost silently, and lowered it onto Will’s shoulder. 

He looked up at him, surprised. Lucas just offered a soft smile, rubbing his thumb across Will’s shoulder. 

Will found himself returning the smile, despite the tears in his eyes and break in his heart.

* * *

“What would you do for a million dollars?”

Lucas pondered the question for a moment.

A million dollars. Well, anything, really, but he supposed El wanted his answer to be the most outlandish thing he could think of. 

“As little as I have to, I guess,” he shrugged. El scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“No, stupid, that’s not the point of the question. Think of, like, the _ worst _ possible thing. Your absolute _ limit_.” So Lucas was right about that, then.

“Eat shit,” Mike said immediately. The five looked at him.

“That was _ way _too quick to not be a want,” Dustin grinned at his friend, who sneered playfully back.

“Oh my _ god_, Bowie, you have a shit fetish!”

“Is that even a _ thing_?”

“I don’t have a shit fetish!” Mike exclaimed loudly, but his expression showed that he thought it was pretty funny.

“I bet he’d eat shit for _ nothing_, just to do it,” Max mused, earning a couple chuckles from the group.

Once the laughter died down, they were silent. Nothing could really top eating shit for a million dollars; they were stumped. 

“Okay, _ I _have a question,” Dustin sat up a little straighter against the railing, a playful grin plastered across his face, “What makes you bizarre?”

“Lucas can’t think for himself,” Will said almost immediately. Lucas gave him a slightly bitter look; _ thanks. _

“He’s right,” he said quietly after a moment. Will tried to silently apologize with his face. It didn’t work. 

The five of them looked down. Their fun little question circle seemed to have taken a turn, thanks to Will. Mike opened his mouth to speak, maybe talk about his so-called shit fetish again, but Lucas wasn’t done. 

“Do you guys know why I’m here?” They all shook their heads no. Lucas sighed. “Did you hear about Jeremy Mitchell?”

Jeremy Mitchell was another guy on the basketball team. He was sort of scrawny, and despite having a lot of friends and being pretty popular, he got picked on often.

When none of his friends responded, he went on. “I, uh, while we were all changing after practice…I grabbed some duct tape and, um,”

The group knew there was no way this story ended well. El shifted uncomfortably and averted her gaze away from Lucas. 

“I took the tape and I—while he was putting on new underwear I grabbed him and,” He took in a shaky breath. Will and Dustin, who were on either side of him, didn’t know if they should physically comfort him or let him be. “I taped his cheeks together.” Lucas clearly didn’t mean face cheeks. 

“Oh my god,” El whispered, so softly that only Max heard it.

“When they, uh, when they took off the tape later, it took a bunch of hair and skin with it,”

Mike gagged.

“I did it for my dad,” Lucas mumbled. 

“Your _ dad _told you to tape a guy’s ass together?” Max almost laughed, but even she knew how to read the room. 

Lucas laughed, though, but it wasn’t a happy one. It sounded like he was hiding a sob behind it. “No. I did it so he would think I was—to think I was _ cool_? Honestly, I don’t even know. It’s stupid.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. A form of comfort, maybe? (Will wondered if maybe _ he _should be doing that. Probably not.)

“My friends—my stupid fucking friends,” Everyone flinched at his language. They hadn’t heard that word since Max’s impression of life at the Mayfield house. “They just watched and cheered me on.”

El knew exactly what friends he was talking about. The douchebag jocks that shove kids like Dustin around and poke fun at them in class.

Lucas was silent for a moment. All eyes were on him, waiting to see if he was finished with his story. He was not.

“After they gave me detention, I just…I thought about Jeremy going home…and telling his dad what happened. I bet he was so fucking humiliated,”

He sighed after this, sitting up straighter and lowering his arms from his chest. “My dad always tells me I’m a winner. Tells me to win. _Lucas!_ _You have to be the best! I won’t tolerate _losers _in my family! Win! Win! Win_!” Lucas’ voice was starting to break as his volume escalated, so he silenced himself. 

The six of them were silent for a couple minutes. There was an awkward energy about them—Lucas’ speech had brought them down; not that they were mad at him for it.

“I think your dad and my dad should get together and go bowling.” Max said finally. Lucas laughed half-heartedly.

Dustin, who, since Lucas had finsihed his story, had been silent, spoke up. “I’m failing shop,” he said simply. The other looked at him. Normally, Max would tell him that nobody cared and he would shut up. She remained silent. 

“We had this project, where we made a little, um, ceramic elephant? And you would put a lightbulb in it and, you know, it would turn on. But—but my light didn’t go on. It wouldn’t go on,” he repeated. His eyes were starting to get shinier. It made their hearts ache. 

“That…I got an F on that assignment. I’ve—I’ve never gotten an F in my life.”

“I don’t even know why I _ took _shop,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m shit at it. I guess I thought it would be like, an easy class I could use to keep up my GPA. Because, you know, shop,”

Max straightened her back at this. “What do you mean, _ shop_?”

Dustin froze. “Um, it’s like a cop-out class,”

“_I _take shop. And I’m good at it.”

“What’s everyone good at?” El said quickly, shifting the topic away from shop. She did _ not _want a physical fight happening, and from the way Max’s face was turning red, that was exactly what was going to happen.

“I can write with my feet,” Will perked up his head. Clearly he was proud of this. “And eat, and brush my teeth, and play _ Heart and Soul _ on the piano.”

“All with your _ feet_?” Dustin stared at him in surprise. He just nodded, grinning.

“I can make spaghetti,” Mike said, “Although compared to Will’s feet thing that’s not very exciting,”

“I can,” Lucas laughed a little, “I can tape all of your buns together,”

Max tapped her fingers against her knee for a moment. “I wanna see what _ El _can do.”

El immediately looked at her, eyes wide. She paused for a moment, then: “Okay, I have _ one _thing. It’s not that exciting, but…”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a gold tube of what looked like lipstick. “Promise you won’t laugh,” she said to the group.

“Cross my heart,” Max readjusted herself so that she had a perfect view of whatever the fuck El was going to do.

El mumbled an “Okay,” then uncapped the lipstick tube. It was a shade in between red and pink. She pulled down the collar of her shirt a bit, then stuck the tube inside her bra. She leaned down into it, and everyone watched as she moved her head this way and that.

They couldn’t tell what she was doing, not at all, but when she raised her head to show off her lips, which were now covered in her lipstick shade, they all whistled and clapped. 

“Very good!” Mike said, smiling. 

“Where’d you learn to do that?” Lucas asked as she put the lipstick back in her pocket. She grinned. 

“Camp, seventh grade.”

Everyone’s claps had died down, but Max continued clapping slowly.

“Very, _ very _impressive El. Very cool.” Her tone was sharp. El looked down and wiped the lipstick off on the back of her hand. 

Will glared at him. “You said you wouldn’t laugh, Max. Don’t do that to her,”

“I’m not laughing, am I?” Max shot back.

“You’re such a prick,” Lucas said, narrowing his eyes at her. 

“It doesn’t matter, does it? I don’t even _ count. _ I could disappear and no one would notice, _ right _?”

Lucas didn’t answer. 

“_You_,” Max looked at El, now, “You don’t even like me.”

El’s eyes started to well up. “I have feelings, you know. Just as many as you do. It hurts. What you’re doing _ hurts_,”

“_No. _ Don’t compare yourself to me. You’ve got it all. _ I don’t_. You’re _ so popular_, right?”

El stayed silent, blinking away tears. “Are those earrings real diamonds, El?”

“Shut up,”

“Your daddy get them for you for Christmas?”

“_Shut up_,”

“Bet they’re not your only pair, bet you’ve got a couple backups at home,”

“_Shut up! _”

And finally, Max did.

El wiped away a couple tears. “I hate you,” she said, not meaning it.

“I know.” Max replied, knowing that she didn’t mean it.

“Jesus,” Mike whispered, after everyone had recovered from El and Max’s scream-off. “Are we gonna end up like our parents?”

They knew exactly what he meant. Always fighting, hating everything, hating _ life_.

“No,” El shook her head, still wiping away a couple tears. (Max watched her do it and wanted to _ die _for making her feel like that.) “No way. I won’t let it happen.”

Will leaned back against the railing. “When you grow up,” he whispered. Lucas looked at him. “your heart dies,”

“Who cares?”

“I care.”

Will was starting to cry now, too. Dustin and Lucas’ eyes were already littered with small beads of tears. It seemed _ talking about your feelings _made teenagers really fucking sad.

The group was silent. Will wiped away a stray tear. Lucas crossed his arms again and looked away from the other kids. Dustin had his eyes in his hand. Mike was blinking frequently; he was trying not to cry too. El had long since given up on hiding her tears. Max stayed stone cold. 

“What’s gonna happen to us on Monday?” Dustin asked suddenly, sitting up, “I don’t know about you, but I consider you guys my friends,”

“You mean will we still talk to each other? Like we are now?” El pressed. He nodded.

“You want the truth?” she asked, wiping a thumb across her under eye. He nodded again. “I don’t think so.”

“Wow, glad to see you’re confident in us,” Lucas sighed, nose upturned. El laughed.

“Tell me, Lucas, if Dustin walked up to you on Monday, what would you do?” Lucas looked down; he knew what he would do. So did El. “You would say hi to him and then laugh and make fun of him with your friends.”

And Lucas couldn’t deny it—he knew she was right. 

“And…what about me? El? If I walked up to you on Monday what would you do?” Will asked nervously, already knowing the answer.

“Same.” she said simply. Will nodded, frowning.

Max, who was silent since her fight with El, made a noise that resembled a growl. “You’re such a bitch, El,”

El _ snapped_. She whipped her head around to stare at Max straight on. Max shifted a little bit. “I’m a bitch for telling the _ truth_?” 

“Yeah, that’s what I said, isn’t it?” Max snarled. El glared at her. 

Mike wiped his eyes on the back of his hand. “Well, um, Dustin and Will and I are good people. We wouldn’t ever…_ do that_,” he said, then turned to Will and looked at him across Lucas and Dustin, “Would you do that, Will?”

Will thought about it for a minute, then shrugged. “I don’t have any friends,”

“If you did,”

Again, Will paused to think. Friends. Now _ that _ was a concept. Finally, he shook his head. “No. I don’t think _ my _friends would mind.”

Mike smiled a little. Will smiled back. Dustin leaned back against the railing, deep in thought. 

“I wouldn’t either,” he said, “It’s super shitty.”

El scoffed. “You guys don’t understand the pressure of being popular, though. It’s different for us, for Lucas and I,”

It was Dustin’s turn to laugh. “Seriously? _ We _ don’t understand _ pressure_?” El retreated into herself, folding her arms over her chest. 

“Do you know why I’m here?” Everyone shook their heads, “You remember what I said about the elephant?”

“Yeah, your light wouldn’t go on?” Mike offered. Dustin sighed at him.

“I got an F. I…I can’t get an F. My parents would kill me. So I, um, I found my dad’s gun,”

“Jesus christ, Dustin. You were gonna..?” El said, softly. Dustin just nodded, biting back tears. “Oh my god, Dustin. K-Killing yourself isn’t the answer,”

“Yeah, well I didn’t do it, did I? I’m still here, aren’t I?” Dustin’s voice was bitter. El swallowed hard. “The, um, I kept it in my locker, and it went off. It…turned out to be a flare gun.”

Lucas couldn’t help it; he started laughing. Quietly at first, then a little louder and harder. 

“It’s—it’s not funny,” Dustin said sharply. 

“I know!” Lucas cackled. Despite himself, Mike started to laugh a little too. Soon enough, all five of them (save for Dustin) we’re laughing hysterically. 

“Okay, it’s kind of funny,” Dustin started chuckling a little, and after a few seconds they were all laughing; _ happy_.

“Do you wanna know why I’m here?” Will asked, nervous once again. 

“Yeah, okay,” Lucas nodded, smiling widely at him. Will returned it gratefully.

“I didn’t have anything better to do.” he shrugged. 

Lucas started laughing loudly again, everyone following close behind. “You’re laughing at me,” Will said, although he was laughing too.

“Yeah, I guess we are.” El chuckled, and instead of feeling hurt, Will just grinned.

* * *

Dustin fiddled with the record player in the library’s office, and finally got the song (_We Are Not Alone_) to play loudly throughout the library.

Will, leaned against the large statue in the centre of the room, began to slowly jump and turn around the library, progressively moving faster. Dustin jumped and clapped around the office.

Lucas, perched on a shelf on the upper level, nodded his head to the beat of the song. El stood on the balcony and danced so intensely her artificial curls started to fall. 

Max had sat herself on the statue, and thrashed her head every which way, drumming her hands on the cold stone. Mike situated himself on one of the desk, and was air guitar-ing along to the song.

As the song progressed (and got more intense and loud) the group’s energy went up exponentially. They jumped around the room, sang loudly, and drummed on every surface they could find. 

Max and Will shuffled their feet across the balcony, Will shooting Max a wide smile when he noticed her staring at El. She elbowed him. 

Max, Dustin and Mike made a strange looking dance line. They walked forward, then took two steps back, then three steps forward, moving their heads and arms along with their feet. 

El and Will repeated the shuffling motion that he had done with Max, grinning at each other. 

They continued to jump and dance, and, as the guitar solo started, Mike stopped paying attention to any of the others, instead miming it passionately. 

The song neared its end, and Will, with a heaving chest, fell to his knees. His fists still pumped in the air as he fell forward onto his chest. Shortly after, his arms fell to his sides just as the final notes rang out through the library.

* * *

Max, having said her goodbyes to her friends (She felt confident in calling them her friends. That’s what they’re were; _ friends_), climbed back up into the ceiling and made her way back to the storage closet, where she prayed that Coleman wasn’t waiting for her.

The remaining five kids sat on the ledge next to the eight desks. Those desks seemed so distant to them. It had only been eight and a half hours since they sat there and stared at their papers, thinking about their essays. 

_ Essays_. They hadn’t even _ thought _about starting them. It seemed stupid to do so now.

“Hey, Dustin?” she asked. He looked at her, head tilted. “How would you feel about writing the essay? I mean,” She looked at her friends, “I think we’d all say the same thing, right?”

The other three boys nodded. El looked back at Dustin, who seemed to be considering the idea. She smiled at him. “We trust you.”

Apparently, these words were what Dustin needed. He smiled back at her, nodded, and hopped down to work on the essay.

El sighed contently, then turned her head and found herself making eye contact with will. A light bulb turned on in her brain, and she grinned, eyes bright. 

“Come with me,” she said simply, jumping off the ledge.

“Where are we going?” Will asked. She just smiled. 

“Come on. You too, Mike.” 

Mike gave her a confused look, but the two boys followed her nonetheless. 

Ten minutes later, the three were sat in the library office, and Will was out of his depressing black clothes and in some of Mike’s extra clothes, and El had removed the dark eyeshadow under his eyes.

“See? You look _ so _much better without all that black shit under your eyes,” El commented absentmindedly, running a gelled hand through Will’s hair. It was off of his face now. Still a bit too long, but El trusted him to cut it himself. (Hopefully on Sunday.)

“Hey,” Will was trying to be annoyed, but the massive smile on his face prevented that, “I like that black shit.”

As El stepped back to make sure Will was presentable (for a certain hoodie-clad athlete), he realized how totally and utterly _ weird _this was. “Why are you being so nice to me?” he asked. 

El chuckled a little and bit her lip, fixing some of Will’s hair, “‘Cause you’re letting me.”

After El deemed Will acceptable, she told him to go see Lucas (he wondered why she only mentioned him—then he didn’t) and that she would rejoin them in a bit. 

She was going to visit Max in the storage closet—she had some business with her that needed to be attended to.

Back in the library, Will nervously exited the library office and made his way back to his friends. 

Why was he even nervous? He looked _ good_. He didn’t have anything to be nervous about. 

Okay, well, there was _ Lucas_, but that was different.

(Except it wasn’t. Not really.)

When he walked in, Dustin was writing their essay, Mike watching him. Lucas was staring off into space, but the second Will entered he stole every ounce of his attention.

Holy _ shit_.

Mike and Dustin looked up to see who had rejoined them, and blinked in shock when they saw Will’s new look. 

Lucas jumped down from the ledge he was sat on, looked Will up and down, and whispered a quiet, “_Woah_.”

El and Max were quiet, back in the storage room. Max was especially silent when El leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.

When El pulled away, Max saw a blush forming across her cheeks, and decided that she _ very much _liked it. 

“Why’d you do that?” she asked after a moment. El bit her bottom lip and smiled softly. 

“Because I knew you wouldn’t.”

Max smiled at her. 

“Can I ask you something?” El whispered, moving her hand so it hovered above Max’s cheek. 

“Sure,”

“Were you really grossed out by the thing with my lipstick?”

Max smiled a little. She nodded, and said, “No.”

The boys, back in the library, were all staring at Will. “What happened to you?” Lucas asked, stepping closer to him. He tensed. 

“El did it,” he said immediately. When Lucas didn’t reply, Will got even more nervous. “What’s wrong?”

His voice was shaky. Lucas just smiled at him, subtly. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just—different. I can see our face now,”

Will frowned. “Good or bad?”

Lucas pursed his lips for a moment. “Good.” 

Will couldn’t stop the massive grin from spreading across his face.

“What’s going on with them?” Dustin whispered, leaning over to Mike, who looked at him blankly.

“_Dude_.”

“What? Seriously, what am I missing?”

Mike ignored him. 

* * *

The six of them, El with Max and Will with Lucas, walked out of the school, finally free of their Saturday detention. 

They walked past Mr. Clarke, who smiled at them. “See you next Saturday,” Max grinned. 

“You bet.”

Once they were outside of the school, Mike waved to them. “See you guys on Monday?” he asked almost nervously. 

El pondered the question for a moment. “Yeah. Monday.” 

Mike smiled widely, grabbing his bike and putting his headphones on, then riding away from the school. 

Dustin sported his dad’s car, and waved to his friends. “Monday,” he said, then hopped into his car. The four remaining kids watched him drive away. 

El and Max continued down the stairs, leaving Lucas and Will alone. They turned to each other, both avoiding the others gaze.

Finally, Lucas put a gentle hand on Will’s chin and tilted his head upwards. Will sucked in a breath, and Lucas leaned forward and gently kissed him.

It was short, only a few seconds, but it spoke volumes. Lucas pulled away and nervously scanned Will’s face for anger, fear, disgust, _ anything_.

Instead, he saw a smile. He then felt two hands cupping his face, and Will’s lips on his.

When Will pulled away, it was Lucas’ turn to smile. Will bit his lip, then moved his hand to Lucas’ arm, ripping the _ H _off of his jacket. He held it up in front of his face with a smile before turning around and going into the parking lot to find his parent’s car. 

Lucas passed by El and Max on his way down, and smiled at them. He took one more look at Will’s car, grinned, then went to find his own parents.

El and Max looked at each other, both unsure of what to say. El saw her dad’s car coming into view, so she placed her hands around the back of Max’s neck and pulled her close, kissing her. 

Max smiled into the kiss, and when El pulled away, she made the move to kiss her again. El narrowly avoided her, and pointed to her dad’s car when Max gave her a hurt expression. 

“Monday.” she whispered. She moved her hands to her ear, and took out one of her diamond earrings. She motioned for Max to put out her hand, and when she did, El placed the earring in it.

She gave Max a soft smile, then turned and went into her dad’s car, waving as she drove away.

Once El was gone, Max took the earring (which was _ definitely _real diamond) and put it into one of her many ear piercings.

Max Mayfield walked around the back of the school, and across the football field; the direction of her house. (A house that she was not excited to go to, but maybe today would be okay.) 

As she did so, she ran her finger along her new diamond earring. She smiled softly to herself, and pumped her fist up in the air.

_ Dear Mr. Coleman, _

_ We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you wanna see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, a musician, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? _

_ Sincerely yours, _

_ The Breakfast Club. _


End file.
